Cary Real Estate Blog

Or actually, the better thought is getting your home ready to SHOW in a competitive real estate market. In today’s market, more than ever, homes for sale in Cary, NC must be in their best showing condition.    Everyone has heard the basic suggestions about getting your home ready to sell.  In our real estate area, Cary, NC, the first thing to do is to make sure your home has good curb appeal.  Clean up the yard, add some flowers and mulch or fresh straw.  Sit in your parked car in front of your house - what can you see?  If you cannot see the windows or doors because of the shrubbery, trim it back.  Do the gutters look full?  Are the windows clean?  Do all of the outside lights (including the floods) have working bulbs?  Just pretend you are the real estate agent driving up with a potential buyer in front of your home.  The next is inside - depersonalize your home.  Pack up the beautiful pictures of your family that will make people focus on your family instead of your home.  Clean out the closets, declutter, make your rooms look more spacious, etc.  Each time a potential buyer opens a closet they should feel a sense or order and calm, not a sense of chaos and overcrowding.

But there are some other, not so well known or recognized, things to do to be ready to show your home.  We have found these to be helpful over the past couple of years:

• Check the air intake grate for your AC unit.  Is the grate dusty?  Do you need a new filter?  Take some time to really look at it.  It not only makes home buyers wonder if your home has been well  maintained, a clogged filter can leave a ‘dusty’ (for lack of a better word) smell when the heat or A/C kicks on.
• Clean your doors, door knobs, and light switch plates.  You don’t see the dirt, because you go in and out of your rooms hundreds of times a day.  It’s not hard to spend a few minutes with a cleaning eraser.  In fact, it is a good project for children to help with.
• Give your blinds a dusting.  We know to keep them open so the home has a bright feeling, but give them a dusting too.
• Remove or box up any prescription medications you don’t need on a daily basis.  These bottles can leave a medicinal smell in your bathroom that you may not be aware of.
• Scrub your bathrooms and leave your shower curtain open half way.  A closed shower curtain shuts off the room and makes it seem smaller.
• Keep any personal items off the counters in the bathroom.  Besides giving your bathroom a cluttered look, you don’t want strangers to be looking at your toothbrush (when was the last time that was changed?).
• Remove any extra rugs from the hardwood floors.  Make the rooms flow together by being able to see the hardwoods.
• Always put out fresh towels before a showing.  Neat and nice.

This is just a small list of the things that you can do to make your home show beautifully so that you can get top dollar for your home investment.   We, at LG Real Estate,  offer more ideas at http://www.caryhomesnc.com/ready.htm.

Our homes in the Cary NC real estate market are known to be at top quality showing condition.  Our fellow real estate agents have a sense of comfort that when they show one of our homes, it will be in top condition. 

What other ideas have worked for you when you listed your home?

Let us know…

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I adore Christmas.  My Mother and Grandmother always shared their excitement for the holiday from when I was very young, and I still enjoy it very much.  After my Mom and Aunt would cook all day and host Thanksgiving, we would drive over to my Grandmas and decorate her tree each Thanksgiving night while she helped.  PaPa seemed relieved as he continued to sit back and rest.  It was a big deal that Grandma was the first one on the block with her tree glowing and outside decorations placed all around.  I still cherish a few of her ornaments on my tree now that she is no longer with us.  My mother worked full time but was known throughout the community for her bow making.  People from all over and from many walks of life brought her ribbon and for weeks she would create lovely bows.  The bow making was so harsh to her hands but she always made them with a smile.  These bows would surround my family all through the house.  We would have bows lying all over the furniture and any available flat surfaces waiting to go to their owners.  Some bows were made as surprises.  She never charged anyone…it was all about the season. 

I am into Christmas decorating and make my share of bows as well.  I like mixing the old and the new in my home.  My husband Joe and my 2 boys are very patient with me during this time of year.  I make a BIG deal out of everything and get fixated on selecting everything from the themed gift wrap (and certainly can’t use the leftovers next year), selecting the perfect tree after trying multiple tree lots (although I previewed 3 tree lots this year without my family during my lunch break) and working on my calender trying to fit in all my favorite “Must Do’s”. 

One place we gather each year is at The General Store Cafe in Pittsboro, just about 25 minutes from our house in Cary, NC.  We go to see the band Trilogy for their Annual Christmas Extravaganza.  This year they are playing from 8:30-10:30 on Saturday night,December 15th.  They play many of the old and new Christmas songs with a bit of swing and even bring out kazoos which my kids love.  After your great meal at the diner, you just settle in at your table and listen to the tunes.  It’s a casual place, kid friendly, artsy patrons, simple food and a kid’s mile high brownie dessert that MUST be shared if the kids are to sleep all month.  All along the edges of the dining area are artistic and crafty type items for sale.  Try it sometime - you can always check out their music lineup on their website at http://www.thegeneralstorecafe.com/.  If unusual and different activities catch your interest, checkout our newsletter on http://www.caryhomesnc.com/ where we often capture some of my favorites since I get to edit the calendar!

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I have been trying to think of what my family’s Christmas traditions are.  We aren’t the caroling family (my daughter being the only one of us that can carry a tune), we don’t often sit in front of the fire with hot apple cider, we don’t have one favorite movie that we like to watch this time of year, but there is one thing we do, without fail, every Christmas.  We destroy my kitchen.  Now, before you get the wrong idea, I don’t mean that I get a new kitchen each December; I mean that we make a mess of it. 

We like to bake.  All 4 of us.  We bake all year long, but at Christmas we do it together and in bulk.  We put in 5 or 6 different Christmas CD’s and hit shuffle (our favorite being a Muppets Christmas CD with John Denver, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and the bunch, there is nothing quite like hearing Miss Piggy sing ‘5 Golden Rings’), get out our favorite Christmas cookie recipes, and proceed to get flour, sugar, colored sugar balls, eggs, and whatever else we need on the floor, on ourselves, and some even in the cookies. 

Now I have to confess that some of the dough is eaten before it’s baked.  There are usually children (and adults) with chocolate around their mouths.  There is a mountain of empty Hershey Kisses wrappers from the peanut butter cookies.  All the Christmas cookie tins are full or being filled.  There is a very happy dog licking the floor and 4 VERY happy and full cooks.  And, I have a mess of a kitchen. 

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With the holidays approaching (and really almost here…), you may feel some trepidation about putting your home on the market.  At LG Real Estate in Cary, NC, we advise our clients that while most of us believe that spring and early summer are the “high season” for selling, the holiday season can be equally promising if your home is priced right and cosmetically appealing.

 Most people move due to job changes, and therefore relocation to the Cary, NC area happens year round.  Since the holidays are busy for all of us, buyers are particularly motivated during this time of year.  It may be inconvenient for you to put your home on the market during the winter, but if you follow a few tips, you can succeed. 

First, realize that your home’s value doesn’t depend on the season.  Just because you missed the summer season doesn’t mean your home’s value has decreased.  Economic factors combined with supply and demand are more influential than anything else.  On the flip side, overpricing on the basis of wishful thinking will also get you into trouble.  Buyers have more information than ever (on homes for sale in any area) to know whether or not they are paying the right price for a home.  Nothing stalls a home sale like over pricing. 

Second, don’t overdo the holiday decor when you’re selling your home in the winter.  This isn’t to say you shouldn’t have a festive wreath on the door.  Instead, consider how holiday decorations might impede a buyer’s ability to assess your home and its space.  For example, if you have a beautiful banister, you don’t want it covered up with temporary greenery.  And the enormous tree you’re accustomed to having in the corner of the living room may make the space look smaller than it really is.

If you are looking for other ideas of what to do to get your home ready to sell, visit our website: www.CaryHomesNC.com or call us at the office of Lenda Goulding, LG Real Estate, 919-653-2647. 

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In an effort to get to know us at LG Real Estate (and since it is the holidays), we will each endeavor to post something about our family holiday traditions.  Watch for more to come.

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You see the ads for a flat-fee or discount broker that get you thinking, “Maybe we could sell the house ourselves.” It’s tempting, especially with the handsome asking prices and potential for profit we see in the Cary, NC real estate area. Discount brokerages seem like a great idea. You get Triangle area MLS exposure and you bypass the traditional commission fee of 5 to 7 percent. But if you don’t have the time to handle the selling process: accurately price, stage, market, and show your house, negotiate the sale, then deal with the inspectors and everything else that comes with four weeks of closing activities, is it really worth it?

Just last month we helped a couple who spent months trying to sell their home in Cary, NC with a discount broker to no avail. When they called LG Real Estate (formerly Lenda Goulding & Associates), we went straight to work staging and pricing their home correctly, and within a short period of time, we found a buyer who couldn’t wait to move in. We handled all of the closing details; details that would have driven them crazy if they had to work them out alone—and would have probably killed the sale. The higher selling price, quicker sale, and personal attention to the marketing, selling, and closing details more than covered the commission. Hire our team at LG Real Estate, and we’ll do the same for you. With the right staging, marketing, and negotiations, we will get you the highest price the market will bear for your home.

We know your Cary, Apex or Morrisville neighborhood, and we know the homes that have sold throughout this Cary NC area. Recent sales price data doesn’t tell the whole story—large amounts of money could have been given up for decorating allowances, closing costs, or inspection repairs. You need an expert to price your home correctly.

Once your home goes under contract, we cover 57 tasks from contract to closing. Just one misstep could cost you the potential dollar savings of doing it yourself. If you are planning to sell your home, I urge you to call us. At LG Real Estate, we can often make up the difference in the amount you pocket after your home sells by not only doing it right, but doing it fast. Check out our website for more detailed information at www.CaryhomesNC.com.  Call us at 919-653-2647.

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Exclusive Cary Real Estate Information

What an absolute thrill – the Cary Blog is live and I’m so excited! What a fantastic opportunity to share local events, interesting factoids and timely real estate news about Cary real estate and topics on a national level. This new Cary blog site offers home buyers and sellers so much “exclusive” information about all things related to your Cary home.

It’s All For You!

Because this new site is so easy to use, I believe it offers you a simplified approach to learning about local events, helpful Cary home buying and selling tips – plus – it offers you the consumer the opportunity to participate in the discussion! So offer your comments and together let’s discuss what’s happening in our area. This is your site, so feel free to comment and participate in the discussion!

What Interest You About Cary?

Tell me what you want to see here. I’m always open for suggestions, so leave your suggestions in the comment box below and I’ll do my best to discuss the topic of your choice! If you have a question about buying and selling real estate in Cary, NC, use this link to contact me.

What to Expect in the Days Ahead

In the coming days, the Cary Area Real Estate Blog will be used as an exclusive conduit for Cary real estate news, local Triangle events, and information about the city of Cary. Occasionally, you will see articles that touch on the intricate details of the greater Triangle real estate market. Comprised of both informative real estate articles, local events and fun factoids, the Cary Area Blog site is sure to offer something for everyone. Check back often…there’s no telling what you might find!

Stay tuned - more post will be coming your way soon,

Lenda

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